Tony Abbott came to government with a blueprint for Australia drawn up by big business for big business. The Abbott government’s first budget was just the beginning. The “age of entitlement” is over, Hockey warned, as he presented a budget centred on slashing health, education, social security, community and Indigenous programs. The centrepiece of the blueprint is the employer’s dream of smashing the trade movement and taking workers’ wages and working conditions back to the dark ages.  more ...

A generation has grown up absorbing the “free” market mantra about unfettered competition delivering the best outcomes for society. Tales of how the “invisible hand of the market” ensures the availability of the best goods at the best price are repeated regularly in Australian high schools, universities, TAFE and other centres for vocational training – and not just in their economics courses. The media is dripping in the same “consensus” declared from on high.  more ...

The highlight of the NSW state elections on Saturday March 28 was the increase of Greens votes. At the time of writing, they could win as many as four seats, up from one, in the Lower House, a significant breakthrough. However, postal votes could change that situation.  more ...

As Parliament prepares to debate a Bill which would allow employers to force workers to trade off penalty rates and other conditions, the United Voice union has released its members’ submission to the Productivity Commission in defence of the Australian weekend.  more ...

An EU military force is being justified as protection from Russia, but it may also be a way of reducing US influence as the EU and Germany come to loggerheads with the US and NATO over Ukraine.  more ...

Seven years ago, a group of US private military contractors massacred a crowd of unarmed civilians at a busy traffic junction in Baghdad. The contractors, who were employed by the notorious private security firm Blackwater, killed 17 people using heavy machine guns and grenades.  more ...

There was a photo of the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs fawning over Gina Reinhardt. I’m not sure what his “out-of-shot” hand is doing, but Gina seems pleased. For those who’ve never heard the quote before, this is what Gina’s father, Lang Hancock, said about Indigenous Australians.  more ...